U-Um...
Yes?
Hey! Don't go making our pretty little receptionist cry.
So you're Nick?
From Masters of War?
Yeah. If you know me, that'll make this fast.
Let's see...
Swashbuckler, Dragoon, Mage, Cleric.
A nicely balanced party.
Oh, so the survivor girl is back at it?
What do you mean?
Her.
She achieved a miracle by coming back alive alone from a C-Rank labyrinth.
The guilds talk about her.
Survivor, huh?
Survivor...
Curran?
I'm sure you've been through a lot,
but the most important ability an adventurer can have is the ability to come back alive.
To come back alive...
So what will you name your party?
Survivors...
We're going to come back here alive, no matter what.
So why don't we call ourselves "Survivors"?
It's a little obvious.
But not bad.
Survivors...
Curran?
I like it.
It's important to be tough to kill!
So your name will be...
Survivors!
Ningen Fushin: Adventurers Who Don't Believe in Humanity Will Save the World
It seems a miracle to me that they met in that tavern that night.
But now that they were a party, what of their adventures?
All right, one more time.
"The Ultimate Party Is Formed? Survivors!"
As disillusioned adventurers, we're going to set out three laws for ourselves.
"Laws" is a bit of an exaggeration.
The Three Laws of the Survivors!
What's the first, Tiana?
No interfering with other peoples' hobbies!
Zem.
Watch the money.
Curran.
Come back alive, no matter what.
That's right.
For the money, we'll all have a part in keeping it safe, instead of just one person.
I'll handle the books.
Tiana checks what I put in the books and holds the money we carry with us.
Curran's in charge of the safe.
I-I'm kind of nervous...
I'll get you a really sturdy one that can't be busted open
with a sledgehammer, or even magic.
And Zem will handle the key...
Forcing.
It's a technique used by magicians. You're making it look like you're assigning roles,
but actually arranging things to benefit yourself.
That's just what I wanted to hear!
If anything else seems sketchy, tell me.
In fact...
It's actually Nick who's going to have the hardest time getting into the safe like this.
'Cause I'd have to get past you to do it.
Why not try to break into the safe while we're all asleep?
I'm gonna eat so much yummy food!
Look. She's all set to steal from the party!
You're being careful about this.
I learned from my time at Masters of War
that just putting someone in charge of something isn't "trust".
"Trust" means everyone recognizing that the other person isn't out to hurt them.
You're telling us to both trust, and doubt, each other.
Th-That's difficult.
Curran.
Can you bring yourself to believe in me?
I'd like to, I think.
But...
It's hard to believe in someone. And even harder to doubt them.
Believing in someone is the easiest thing in the world.
'Cause, in a sense, you're letting someone else take charge of your fate.
Yeah.
And doing that is what brought us here.
That's why we all need to be very skeptical of each other.
But... I want to believe in everyone.
Well...
We feel the same way.
We want to believe.
The Sticky Aqueducts.
We're starting at G-Rank, which means we're only allowed access to three labyrinths.
We need to go into two of them and defeat the bosses there to be promoted to F-Rank.
It sounds easy, the way you're putting it.
And it's not that hard, actually.
They're basically practice areas for us to learn the ropes.
But Tiana and I have never been in combat before.
And I can't imagine what I learned at school being too useful here.
True...
I can't imagine someone getting killed here...
No, I suppose you might, if you let yourself get cocky.
There it is.
That?
This is Survivors' first prey.
A slime!
It's cuter than I expected.
It's chewing grass!
Is that grass yummy?
It may look harmless, but it'll eat anything.
If it gets too big, it'll go to a farm somewhere and start eating the cows.
That would be a problem.
That said...
You can defeat a slime empty-handed just by grabbing its core.
This is where we'll get our money. So make sure you don't leave any behind.
Okay, Teacher Nick!
Tiana, joining this party is a gamble for you, right?
Hey!
Teacher Nick, Zem is interfering with somebody's hobbies.
Oh, that's right.
If you're talking instead of paying attention, you're going to regret it.
Okay, Teacher.
Maybe we were right to form a party together.
Maybe, if I'm with them, I can...
I know they're monsters, but it still feels wrong to take a living creature's life.
But if we don't get rid of the miasma,
normal plants and animals will become monsters, too.
If you don't cull the monsters and get rid of the miasma,
the labyrinths will grow bigger.
You'll just have to keep telling yourself that.
But why do monsters attack people?
There's extensive research on trying to communicate with monsters.
But all monsters, regardless of type, attack people.
So we have to fight them?
That's kind of sad.
Yeah.
Just don't let your guard down.
But we've gone up a few floors,
and the only change we've seen is that there's more of them and they've gotten faster.
I may not look it, but I've defeated orcs and goblins, you know.
The ones on this floor will shoot sticky fluids at you,
and if you step on them they have the same lethal power as a banana peel.
So as I was saying...
"Don't let your guard down."
I know.
No letting your guard down. Your safety's your responsibility.
This was my fault.
Ow...
But...
I'm going to pay them back for that!
Wait!
Icicle Dance!
Y-You're okay...
right?
I'm sorry I just fired off a spell like that, but you should be more careful...
I tried to believe in you!
I wanted to believe in you, Tiana!
What? I-I'm trying, too...
Next time...
I might be the one to make a mistake.
What the hell?
I was trying to believe in you, too.
We're up to the top floor already?
Everything that happens here will teach you something.
So stay focused until the very end.
Nick! Nick!
There's a really big one up ahead of us!
That's a huge slime, the boss of the Sticky Aqueducts.
So here's his deal...
Tiana?
I can deal with him myself!
Well, I guess it's okay.
Ice Spear!
How about that?
Get away, Tiana!
I can't trust her.
Huh? What was that?
Huge slimes react to powerful magic by sending slime everywhere.
If you'd just told me, I could've done something.
And if you'd told me what kind of magic you were using, I could've given you advice.
And Zem...
Yes?
You belong in the rear, not the front, right?
I felt guilty just sitting in the rear...
No, that's your job.
Or did you think it would be faster to defeat it yourself
instead of counting on your fellow party members?
That's right.
I think this is a good time.
This is every weapon I own.
I'm good at unarmed combat, with daggers, and with scouting.
Also, I'm good with handling items and bookkeeping.
I don't know a damn thing about magic.
And I can't use heavy weapons.
Nor perform alchemy or healing spells.
Is this your way of showing us your secrets?
You can't trust the people around you
because you don't know what they're capable of.
I think if we better understood each other, we might trust each other more.
So we're all supposed to reveal our weaknesses?
No.
I know you've all got your reasons for being the way you are,
assuming we all believe each other's stories.
The one thing we all have in common
is that someone exploited us for what we're good at.
Some people were jealous of our skills.
Some people took advantage of them to deceive us.
That's how we became disillusioned,
and that makes us reluctant to reveal our true skills.
So if you don't want to tell us, you don't have to.
Our time together is uncertain, but if you want to talk at some point down the road,
you can do it then.
But instead... there's one thing I want you to decide:
what you hope to accomplish in this party.
What I hope to accomplish...
If you wanted to defeat me, it would be easy.
Swords, fists, magic... I'm weak to all those.
But you wouldn't want to take a long time doing it.
'Cause I can heal small wounds with magic!
Stop talking like somebody's going to try and kill you.
My apologies.
I'm a mage.
Wind and water are my best elements.
I can also use lightning as a combination of the two.
I can use earth, as well, but I'm not as strong with it.
And I can barely use fire magic at all.
I screwed up this morning.
I'm sorry.
I'm helpless against earth and fire attacks, as well as quick attacks at close range.
Why are you telling me this?
Oh, that's right.
You're good with fire and close-range attacks.
And?
No, I was just thinking I should've kept my mouth shut. That's all.
Thanks.
Too bad.
I was planning on burning you to a crisp... but I missed.
Well, don't miss next time.
Or I won't be able to trust you when you're out fighting in front of me.
Leave it to me.
Okay, last up is the Goblin Forest.
Mostly goblins live here.
Goblins are weak individually, but fight in packs.
You need to make sure you don't get surrounded.
You okay?
I guess humanoid monsters aren't as easy to defeat as slimes.
They've got a degree of intelligence,
so they can use simple words to organize and attack in formation!
I didn't realize how strong Nick was...
Idle talk will cost you three dinah!
Thank you!
That's most of them in this area.
I'll check the surrounding area.
Oh, I can handle that.
Detect Magic!
There are 10 or so to the northeast in about 500 meters...
I think.
They're spread out, but the closest is there.
How can you tell?
Detect Magic can find any traces of magic within a three kilometer radius.
You're amazing.
Not many people could detect magic across that wide an area.
I've learned we can't trust Nick, though.
That's right.
Why not?
When you told us about your skills, you didn't say you could fight like that.
You seem to have a major problem with your ability to evaluate yourself.
That's right!
You were so strong, I barely got to do anything!
And I just shared my own weakness like an idiot.
I mean, well...
What the hell?
What's wrong?
One of them has way too much magic to be a goblin.
Five times normal.
That's bad.
Any idea what it might be?
An ogre, probably.
An evolved version of a hobgoblin that's vastly more powerful.
And difficult even for you?
Even if we work together, if we're not careful... you know.
We don't have enough experience working together as a team.
What should we do, then? Retreat?
No, that's not an option.
If we don't stop it here,
that pack will absorb the others around it
and finally start to attack the people who live nearby.
And more than anything... it's worth money.
I hate to say it, but, yeah...
Ogres are highly resistant to magic, right?
I won't be able to do much more than distract it.
In the end, Curran and I will just have to deal with it.
The plan's simple.
Tiana uses spells to distract it,
Zem buffs with his magic,
and Curran and I attack.
But if we're going to break through the tough skin of an ogre,
Curran, we need your attack power.
Don't worry. I'm fine.
Okay, let's go.
Tiana.
I still don't fully trust you.
I'd like to, but I don't know if I can.
Don't worry.
That's true for me, too...
No, for everybody, I'm sure.
We all think that.
We don't know if we can trust each other... but we want to.
Here it comes.
Go. With your back turned towards me.
Can you do that?
I can...
I can do that much!
Let's go!
Unyielding Fortress! Iron Strength!
Icicle Dance!
Don't get cocky, humans!
Attack!
What I want to accomplish...
What I want to accomplish in this party...
I knew that from the start!
I want to believe in everyone!
She apologized instead of blaming me for running out in front.
She's a noble!
She's probably never had to apologize to anyone!
I won't look behind me!
I'll believe! I'll believe to the end!
I'll...
believe and believe and believe and believe!
Fire Dragon Strike!
Well? I did it!
See? Turning my back on Tiana was as easy as eating happonyaki!
Oh? This might not be the only chance I get to aim at you.
Really?
I won't let you beat me!
Look forward to it.
Do those two not like each other?
Maybe not.
Want to help, guys?
I don't get involved with people's private hobbies.
I'm not doing it because it's my hobby!
We have to do it if we want to get paid.
It's tough being an adventurer.
It's easy when you get used to it.
You don't have to learn anything, Curran.
They didn't teach me anything last time.
Whew, that was close.
This one was in the process of evolving.
If we'd had another ogre, it would've been bad.
It's stuck on!
Damn it!
Sorry, you okay?
Y-Yeah...
"Crack"?
Next time: "Curran's Secret"
Next time: "Curran's Secret".